Thursday, October 30, 2008

Attention Blog Friends

I am really sleep deprived - Mr. Bean might be an adorable kitten, but he has been keeping me up at night and I really am at my wit's end. He bites my fingers. He wants to play with my cosmetics. He likes to knock my glasses off the night stand (so they now live in a drawer at night.) He does what he can to be annoying, and I can't think straight. Any suggestions? I'm serious. I'm so tired, I cannot find the words, nor the energy to go read your posts, because all I want to do is sleep.

So anyone who has dealt with a 7 month old male kitten who is adorable but annoying, tell me what to do. Please.

18 comments:

we closed the door to the bedroom. they are sweet and cute- but they are also nocturnal. they sleep all day long and are up all night. perhaps when he is older you can give it a try- but trust me when i say- my big guy still lays on top of me and licks my eye lid and paws me in the face to get my attention. mommy keeps the door closed.

the last kitten we got did the same thing to me and it really drove me crazy. I ended up going back to the place where I got him and got a sister of his from the same litter so that they could play with each other and leave me alone. it worked! but that means you need to get another kitten.

I go with Betmo's suggestion. Or if he then scratches on the door and meows, you might have to lock him in his own room. Our cat has a room of his own where his food and box are and if he gets in one of his nocturnal yowling moods (usually after we've been on vacation and left him in the care of a friend - he gets back at us when we get home) we sometimes have to lock him up!

Problem with putting kitty in the bathroom is if YOU have to go to the bathroom, than Houdini will escape & you will be trying to herd the cat for the next 2 hours.If you have a small place, either a spare room, or a crate (larger animal carrier?)You could try reverse psychology- when the cat naps in the day, wake HIM up.

I have had two "nuisance" cats in my lifetime. One was so bad I just had to give him away. He swung from the drapes, would run up your dress and ate my jelly donut. Final straw.My second nuisance cat was adorable and quite funny. She would get on the counter, the vanity and the dresser and fling my belongings to the floor. She would body slam into my vanity stool to knock it over and wake me up and would turn on the radio on my clock radio by banging on the buttons. She also unplugged my coffee pot. If you really love your nuisance cat keep him. If he gets on your nerves, find him a new home. I think if you lock him out of the bedroom he might get more destructive or weirder.

We have a room where Harry sleeps sometimes...it has a pillow and blanket by the tv- and he often sleeps with the TV on- he likes the warmth and the noise of it....in that room , we also have his bowl of hardfood for snacks and water...He used to love to nap on the TV, but he is too big now and falls off...but having his own spot was very much what he needed...( esp since the other old lady cat hates him....)

6-6 also plays with him 2 times a day, usually in the eve before bedtime- and that helps too.....he likes catch..he chases little soft nerf balls around the house...

(((...he was the 7 lb stray that we have- we have never had a "kitten"....when we got him we realized there are things about him that we can no change- he was about 9-12 monthes when we got him...Rescue cats often have difficult patterns to break...so I was told by my college neighbor- they have 3 rescues- all couch potatos NOW...but it took monthes..))))

I wish you the best- I do sooooo understand having such a cat....it was worse than having a newborn baby on sleep....hang in there...

I've been lucky with cats. As I said my last cat lasted into her twenties. I got her as a just weened baby. She followed me like a little red fox and I used to get phone calls from neighbors telling me they'd spotted a fox on my trail. At first she did annoy me, but I'm a bear of a momma of any animal. i am in charge. I swatted her away, ignored her, slept on after one rough cuff. Finally she learned not to wake mamma. I had one cat that used to run up the wall and do a backflip. I thought it was charming the first time I saw this cat do that, but after having to reimburse the landlord for the re-wallpapering. I think providing great toys that don't make noise is also a good idea. Good luck darling.

You guys are the best! Thank you. Last night, I stayed in - I was so tired, I was afraid to drive a car. And Mr. Bean was purrfect. He watched telly with me, all curled up in my lap. He likes Rachel Maddow, actually, and he keeps his head up during her show. Then, he slept in my bed, on my feet, all night. It was great. I feel human again!

I agree with everyone who says "catnip." Yes, paper bags are good. Enigma4ever has all the right tips. And Utah—cardboard boxes are great kitty places.

I trained my tabby to sleep next to my tummy when she was a kitten, then I'd pet her and we'd both go off to sleep. When she was a cat, she dove under the covers every night and went right to sleep. There's nothing like a purring kitty next to you to put you to sleep.

There's obviously a lot of highly intelligent cat people here. Well, I can offer some good news: around a year old they calm down and need 18 hours sleep a day. You're at the "terrible twos" stage.

Mr. Bean! Oh, that's awesome. Maybe you can tape Rachel Maddow to keep him calmed down? And I thought it was odd that Rachel Maddow calms me down in L.A. traffic. Now, at least I know I'm more cat like than I thought.

They're such wonderful creatures. Congratulations on your new addition!

Yes, eventually, the midnight madness will wear off -- my husband and I have a tear-around with our two kittens before we go to bed ... and shock of shocks: the furballs are starting to calm down (they're both just over a year old now). We've got kitty beds all over the place, a kitty condo ... and we give our three cats a wee snack before bed -- nothing like digesting food to calm any creature!

Much joy to you and Mr. Bean!

And of course, you could always bring home another wee one ... for double the trouble ;-)

Oh no, not the sleep deprivation stage! It does go away, really, a kitten has way too much energy.

I've had good success with one of those fishing rod cat toys to help them use up their energy. All petstores sell them. Problem is if you're working all day, Mr Bean is sleeping, so naturally he is ready to keep you up all night.

Try wearing him out, all evening, just keep playing & playing with him. Feed him when you are ready for bed & I bet he'll sleep for hours. I've never been able to lock an animal out of the bdrm. If you do, better be wearing earplugs & expect a very unhappy cat. In fact, expect to hear many things being knocked over outside the bdrm to get your attn.

BTW Diva, don't let him bite you EVER! If you don't stop it now, you'll be sorry later. A firm reprimand usually works. Use a drill sargeant voice, sound very mean! But he has to know it is NOT acceptable behavior. I had a cat who adopted me who put me in the emergency rm twice due to biting & scratching, incl having to sew my eyebrow back on. I'm not kidding.